[Gil--tc--h]

Darkness. Endless and suffocating.

Amira found herself standing in the middle of nothing, the air thick like fog, pressing against her skin.

Not again…

She turned, and there it was—the shadow. The same one from before. A towering presence, its form shifting and flickering like fire trapped in the void.

"You again," Amira muttered, crossing her arms. "Figures. Can’t even get one night of sleep without some cryptic nightmare."

The shadow chuckled, its voice slithering through the air like a whisper against her ear. "Sleep? There is no rest for those who walk the path of fire."

She frowned. “That supposed to mean something, or are you just being dramatic?”

The shadow tilted its head. "The dungeons have appeared."

“No shit,” she snapped. “What’s inside them? What’s coming?”

It didn’t answer. Instead, it stepped closer.

"Your fire grows stronger."

Amira tensed as a familiar heat spread through her chest. She glanced down—purple flames flickered around her hands, their glow pulsing in sync with the shadow’s movements.

"But you are still weak."

Her fists clenched. “Then make me stronger.”

The shadow laughed, deep and rumbling. "Power comes with a cost, little flame. You’ve already begun to pay."

Her breath hitched. Her eyesight. The blurriness.

“…That was you.”

"No," the shadow whispered. "That was you."

She took a step back, heart pounding. “What the hell does that mean?”

The shadow reached out, darkness curling toward her. "You will understand soon enough."

The fog thickened. The heat burned brighter.

And then—

She woke up.

Amira jolted awake, heart pounding, the lingering whispers of the shadow still curling in the back of her mind.

You will understand soon enough.

She sat up, rubbing her temples. "Yeah, yeah, real helpful," she muttered under her breath. The last thing she needed was more cryptic dream nonsense.

Her phone buzzed.

6:47 AM.

Her alarm hadn’t even gone off yet.

With a groan, she rolled out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom. The second she looked in the mirror, she cursed.

Her eyes.

For a brief second, the irises glowed faintly—just a flash of purple before fading back to normal.

“…Great. Totally normal. Love that for me.”

She splashed cold water on her face, took a deep breath, and pushed the thought aside. Whatever this was, she’d deal with it later.

For now, she had school.

Chaos Before Class

By the time she made it downstairs, the house was already alive with noise.

Kora was chugging coffee like her life depended on it, oil stains smudging her hands from some late-night project. Stacy sat at the table, scrolling through her phone, looking way too put together for this early in the morning.

Their mom, as always, was multitasking like a pro—flipping pancakes, checking emails, and somehow managing to yell at Kora and remind Amira to grab her lunch at the same time.

“You’re up early,” Stacy noted, barely looking away from her screen.

Amira grabbed some toast, biting into it. “Didn’t sleep great.”

Kora snorted. “Join the club.”

Their mom shot them both a look. “You both need to get more rest. And Amira, eat something real before you head out.”

“I am,” Amira said through a mouthful of toast.

Kora grinned. “She didn’t say how much I had to eat.”

Their mom sighed but didn’t argue.

By the time Amira was out the door, she felt somewhat awake. The cool morning air helped, and for once, it seemed like today might actually be—

“OI, AMIRA!”

She barely had time to react before someone slammed into her, an arm slinging around her shoulders.

It was this motherf—

Ruby.

Looking way too excited for 7:30 AM.

“Guess what?” Ruby grinned.

“…You woke up and chose violence?”

“That too,” she admitted. “But!” She wiggled her phone in Amira’s face. “News just dropped. The government’s sending people to explore the dungeons today.”

Amira paused mid-step. “Wait. You mean—”

“They’re actually going in,” Ruby confirmed. “And the best part? They’re live-streaming it.”

“…Oh, this is gonna be a disaster.”

“Oh, definitely,” Ruby agreed, grinning. “So, you ready for another normal school day?”

Amira exhaled. “Not even remotely.”

They both laughed, but deep down, Amira couldn’t shake the feeling that today was about to go very wrong.

Amira and Ruby strolled onto school, the morning sun barely peeking through the clouds. The school was already buzzing—more than usual. Everyone had their phones out, eyes glued to the live stream of the government’s dungeon exploration.

Great. So much for a normal day.

At their usual meeting spot by the courtyard benches, the rest of their chaotic group was already waiting.

Sara was sipping her iced coffee like it was the only thing keeping her alive. Dave was sprawled out on the bench, staring at his phone, while Liam and Aiden were in a heated debate over something, judging by Aiden’s wild hand gestures.

“Yo, you guys see this?” Dave held up his phone before Amira even sat down. The screen showed a group of armored soldiers stepping cautiously into a massive black portal. A news ticker scrolled across the bottom:

LIVE: FIRST DUNGEON EXPEDITION UNDERWAY

“Oh yeah,” Ruby smirked, dropping into the seat next to Sara. “We were just talking about how this is gonna be a total mess.”

Liam scoffed. “Oh, for sure. These guys have no idea what they’re walking into.”

Sara glanced at Amira. “You okay? You look…” She squinted. “Like you saw a ghost.”

More like a shadow, Amira thought but just shrugged. “Didn’t sleep great.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow. “You, not sleeping great? Shocking.”

She flicked a piece of her toast crust at him.

Before he could retaliate, a sudden murmur spread through the courtyard. More students were tuning into the stream, whispering. Amira’s stomach twisted as she glanced at the screen again.

The soldiers had only just crossed the dungeon threshold—

And already, their signal was starting to glitch.

The screen flickered. The signal warped.

The soldiers had only just stepped into the dungeon, but the live feed was already breaking down—static cutting through the audio, the camera feed distorting.

"That’s not normal," Sara muttered, sitting up straighter.

“No shit,” Dave said, frowning. “We have satellites that can track stuff across the galaxy, but a few feet into a dungeon and the signal goes haywire?”

The news anchors on-screen were trying to play it cool, their voices strained as they filled the silence with forced commentary.

"—just some expected interference, folks, nothing to worry about—"

Then, the screen froze.

For a second, nothing moved.

The lead soldier, a heavily armored man carrying a futuristic rifle, was mid-step, his face barely visible under his helmet.

The next second—

The entire screen went black.

A sharp whine echoed from every phone speaker. A high-pitched, static-heavy noise—like something trying to force its way through the feed.

Then, a voice.

Low. Distorted. Wrong.

"They shouldn’t have come."

A chill shot down Amira’s spine.

She wasn’t the only one. The entire school courtyard went silent. Everyone’s screens were the same—just blackness, that eerie voice still echoing.

Then—

SCREEEEEEECH.

A horrible sound, like metal being torn apart. The screen flashed—just for a second—but it was enough.

Enough to see something lunging from the darkness.

Enough to see the soldiers react—too slow.

Enough to hear screaming.

And then—

The live feed cut out completely.

Silence.

No one spoke. No one breathed.

Amira’s hands curled into fists. Her stomach twisted.

Ruby was the first to break the silence.

“So,” she said slowly. “I think it’s safe to say… we have a problem.”

The tension in the air was thick. Everyone in the courtyard was either frantically refreshing the stream or whispering about what they had just seen.

Amira locked eyes with Ruby, and she already knew what was coming.

“We should check it out,” Ruby said, standing up.

Aiden groaned. “Of course, you’d say that.”

Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “You do realize that the government, as in actual trained professionals, just got their asses handed to them, right?”

Amira exhaled, rubbing her temples. “Yeah, but sitting here and watching isn't gonna help anyone.”

Sara frowned. “You do remember what happened last time, right? We barely made it out of that dungeon break, and now you want to walk into one?”

Amira’s fingers twitched. She didn’t want to admit it out loud, but there was something pulling at her—an itch under her skin, an invisible thread tugging her forward. She didn’t know if it was instinct, adrenaline, or something else, but every part of her was screaming that they had to go.

“Look,” she finally said, “I’m not saying we rush in blind. But something about this feels off. And if these dungeon breaks keep happening, we need to be ready.”

Dave crossed his arms. “So what? We skip school, head straight into a potential death trap, and hope for the best?”

Amira grinned. “Exactly.”

Ruby clapped her hands. “See? Now that’s the spirit.”

Liam sighed. “We’re all gonna die.”

Aiden shook his head. “Fine. But if we do this, we do it smart.”

Sara groaned, but even she was pulling out her phone, likely checking for any news updates. “I hate that I’m agreeing to this.”

Dave stretched. “Welp, if we get arrested for interfering with a government operation, at least I won’t have to take my math test.”

“Priorities, Dave,” Amira deadpanned.

He just grinned.

Ruby clapped her hands together. “Alright, team. Let’s ditch this hellhole and go investigate a potentially world-ending situation.”

Amira felt the heat flicker under her skin, her heart pounding in anticipation.

Time to see just how deep this rabbit hole goes.